A growing collection of facts, thoughts and events from a 77-year-old man and his family, friends, and the characters that he has met along the way . . .

This is just a short post to display an even shorter video of a sea creature that I discovered in the canal behind my humble abode about a month ago. On a cold winters night in March my neighbors and I spotted several strange apparitions swmming in a circle over another neighbors underwater light just across the canal. It sort of looked like they were “flapping their wings” as they swam(?) round and round, and we had quite a dispute as to what we thought we were looking at. I did take a few photographs of what we were watching, but they were too far away and the light was too poor for me to get a good picture. Although no one agreed with me, I thought they were Sea Hares because I had once seen one swimming just off Miami Beach a great many years ago – and I proved to right! A few days ago one swam right up to my dock in broad daylight, but I did not have my camera handy.

Yesterday, as my daughter Terri, and my granddaughters, Andrea & Ellie, were enjoying lunch at my home one of the girls discovered “something strange” swimming on the surface of the water several yards away. IT WAS ANOTHER SEA HARE, and we all got some great pictures as it swam around our viewing area. I even managed to get a few short film clips of this magnificent sea creature:

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One of my granddaughters netted the Sea Hare and it was quickly deposited in a bucket of sea water. In defense the creature immediately ejected a considerable amount of pinkish-purple fluid or ink. After a short examination, the Sooty Sea Hare was returned to the canal and a few minutes later it surfaced; then began feeding on algae along the seawall.